Self-archived version of:

Ferrando, F. “"Existential Posthumanism: A Manifesto"

Existential Posthumanism: A Manifesto

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Who are we, humans of the 21 century?

This question is at the core of posthumanism, which redefines the notion of humanity relationally,

counting on plurality, ecology and technology as integral parts of the human. This opens radical

opportunities in the possible evolutions of individuals and societies, the futures of the human

species, the dignity of non-human entities, and the health of planet Earth. The issues at stake are

very high. And still, often, theory and practice do not go hand in hand: theorists write about

posthumanism, but posthumanism does not necessarily affect the ways we live and behave.

Existential posthumanism marks a profound change, by focussing, specifically, on how to exist as

posthumanists: right here, right now.

When did existential posthumanism arise?

Existential posthumanism arose from the deep existential crisis, and awakenings, generated out of
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the historical emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, at the end of the second decade of the 21

century. Ultimately, the millions of human deaths reported across hundreds of countries unfolded

a self-evident revelation: there is no time to wait for tomorrow, the time is now. The profound

incertitude, caused by the virus and rooted in the realization that, in front of death, there is

nothing left to lose, has also allowed for big transformations to manifest. Out of these

contemplations, existential posthumanism has gone “viral” by fully engaging with the impact of

the pandemic, and thus learning from experience that, in order to help, words are not enough: we

must enact. Existential posthumanism manifests the deep need to develop the philosophical

posthumanist turn not just in theory, but in practical and applied ways of existing. The good news

is that we do not have to wait for apocalyptic hyper-technological futures to be posthuman; we

can actually become posthuman right now: for instance, in the ways we – the human species as a
whole – live; in the modes we, as individuals, behave; in the forms we, as organisms, interact,

etcetera. This existential take engages posthumanism at all levels: from the personal to the

social, the biological, the planetary, the ontological and beyond. Such a message is urgently
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needed by the humans of the 21 century, who are re-addressing and re-envisioning themselves

in the era of the Anthropocene, global pandemics and the rise of artificial intelligence. It is also of

vital importance to all the non-human agents of planet Earth.

What is existential posthumanism?

Existential posthumanism is a path of self-enquiry and self-discovery: by daring to fully embark

on this journey, we humans can comprehend the extension of the resonances, impacts, affects

and effects of our being in the world. Existential posthumanism refers to full existential

awareness; in this sense, it is not simply an academic trend, but a much deeper realization. This

journey of self-knowledge starts by understanding the inter-being of the self: as individuals,

societies, species, planet, cosmos, and so on. Existential posthumanism, as a philosophy of life,

approaches humans (in all of their diversities), non-human animals, technological entities and

ecological systems relationally, investigating the human condition as a cosmic co-emergence.

Existential posthumanism implies full existential commitment, bringing forth multispecies co-

existence and existential dignity that embraces all beings. It deconstructs any discrimination

based on human-indexed classifications and speciesist categorizations; more generally, it counters

any type of constructions where difference is degraded to a term of pejoration from the “norm”,

turned into the negative in the plus/minus economies of values, and consequently rendered as a

socio-political negation. Ultimately and assertively, existential posthumanism acknowledges

diversification as the spark of existence, at the core of the dynamics of biological, and

technological, evolutions. By extension, existence is not approached in competitive, nor in

hierarchical ways, but in open terms of affinities and co-emergences. For instance, existential

posthumanism embraces radical ecology and far-reaching technology: one does not have to thrive

at the expenses of others. In a post-darwinian approach to evolution, existential posthumanism

does not recognize the survival of the fittest as a natural law, but for instance, underlines the

foundational relevance of cross-species symbiotic collaborations. The cyborg turn, as well as the
urgent climate crisis of the Anthropocene, show that long-lasting survival is grounded in planetary

balance.

How to enact existential posthumanism?

Existential posthumanism is an existential approach which allows us to ask not only ontological

macro questions, but also practical micro questions related to our daily routines. Both dimensions

are relevant in the constitution of our existential expressions and manifestations. It is, currently, a

field in full expansion, dedicated to the actualizations of ways of existing based on post-

humanistic, post-anthropocentric and post-dualistic praxis. What about the food we eat? What

about the thoughts we have? What about the social intentions that inform our technologies, and

our individual intra-actions through technologies? What about our material stewardship of the

Earth and the land(s) we are the fruit of? It's time to pause and be real. There are no absolute

answers; each situation must be approached pluralistically and with originality, in tune with the

poietic premises of being. All that is, forms the sensitive constitution of reality, informing the big

data of spacetime. This extensive notion refers to the conscious – and unconscious – collective

recollection of embodied and actualized ways of being, that can be possibly retrieved, and

substantially re-actualized, in material manifestations, through enactments and repetitions. In

performing our lives, each of us (human and non-human beings) may reiterate the characteristics

of already established ways; depending on our existential awareness, we can also create original

archetypes, the relevance of whose emergence might be realized communally. Ultimately, the

molding and unfolding of our existences (and all kindred ramifications) reveals itself as our final

work of art, resonating chorally at the dimensional level. By virtue of the shared manifold of our

agency, we are no longer confined to the canons set by past narratives, dominated by

anthropocentric and human-centric presumptions, or other partial assumptions – including, but

not limited to, disenchanted monetary assessments of the world, based on profit-oriented denials

of any intrinsic values, and sustained by the old myth of unlimited growth (which, per se, cannot

be considered an ultimate goal: cancer grows too, but its growth, for instance, is not necessarily

sustainable for the human organism).

past eras and do not satisfy the ultimate need for self-realization. Overall, such dominant

ideologies merely reinstate the privilege of some humans over other beings; even though they

may be still uncritically accepted in some human societies, we no longer have to repeat, nor follow

them. For instance, anthropocentric humanism fitted the ideological paradigm of the Industrial

revolution; it was, symbolically speaking, its “steam engine”, sustaining and guiding political

actions, technological innovations and ecological devastations. This mindset no longer works in
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the 21 century. Ours is not just the era of the Anthropocene, but an anthropogenic epoch in

which the challenging characteristics of living in the Anthropocene are experienced daily and

globally in their deadly outcomes, as the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated (because of human

disruption of natural habitats and invasion of wilderness, viruses previously hosted by non-human

animals are now affecting human survival). We don't even need a revolution: the evolution of the

Earth speaks for itself. The ice-melting poles are crystal-clear: climate change is not a notion, but

something we have become. Everything is changing, and we – who are part of this planet – can

change right now, manifesting different ways of existing, enacting our own cosmic game, in order

to understand who we are. Existential posthumanism approaches the existential question “Who

am I?” in relation to: “Who are we, as a species?”; “What are we, as organisms?”; “When and

where are we, as a planet?”, among other terms. Existential posthumanism reveals itself as a

precious tool to comprehend ourselves; it can be expanded through spiritual practices, but they

are not interdependent.

What is the difference between spirituality and existential posthumanism?

While spirituality transcends the ordinary experience, eventually opening onto the mystical,

existential posthumanism is a praxis that can work within the constituted categories of social and

political archetypes, in order to deconstruct and transform them, approaching our trajectories as a

species not just to describe, but to change and actualize them. In such an endeavor, existential

posthumanism may substantially rely on the power of the intellect, while the spiritual seeker can

convey mastery of other relevant paths. Existential posthumanism is a reference point for those
committed posthumanists, who have invested in the intellectual capital of society as a reliable

source of deep social and individual transformations; for those posthuman activists who are aware

of the fact that there is no original beginning to re-constitute; therefore, there is no original sin to

purify. We are constant beginnings, and constant ends. Existential posthumanism emphasizes that

words by themselves are only seeding, and do not necessarily flourish; enactment requires

another level of existential commitment. This reveals agency at the planetary level, species power

at the level of the collective (un)conscious, and the multi-focal ability of individual realizations to

inform the community at-large. “Posthuman”, in this existential sense, means being brave

enough to know that the human condition is neither our destiny nor our nature , but a

spatio-temporal manifestation of unlimited (embodied and evolving) possibilities. We are never

just human, when we are, existentially: aware.

REFERENCES

Ferrando, F. (2019), Philosophical Posthumanism. Bloomsbury: London et al.

Ferrando, F. (in press), Being Posthuman: Social Wisdom for the 21st Century. Polity Press:

Cambridge.